I Quit My First 'Real' Job

That's right. I quit.

Six months out of college and I landed what I presumed to be the dream job of my 20s -- the step-ladder to success, the nose-to-the-ground, long-hours, working-so-hard-you-suddenly-think-finals-week-was-a-joke, job. I landed it!

It only took two months to realize this job was not what I expected. It wasn't the long hours or management, the gas mileage or the compensation (that was all more than I needed as a 20-something living at home). I racked my brain for weeks, until I finally realized that this job is wonderful for anyone looking to make it in that industry, but I don't want to make it there.

I realized if I stayed, I could have molded into the employee my bosses loved and I would be that person I imagined during four years of undergrad. Sadly, my gut was telling me that this person wasn't who I am meant to be.

That right there was the most difficult thing to come to terms with. Dreams change. People change. So the real question became not who am I, but what am I going to do? Am I going to flounder and stay employed just for the security and knowing that out of all of my friends, I was the one who always had it figured out? Or could I throw that away and start over?

I chose to start over. I chose to walk away. I chose a smaller paycheck, a disappointed email from former professors and a chance to dream bigger.

Now, I didn't give up a salary and medical benefits for an audition on [insert reality stardom show here]. I stepped back and took a look at my roots. I dug to the core of my passion and decided to build from there.

Who knows, I might wake up in three months and decide this isn't what I want to do either. But at least next time, I'll know that trusting that gut feeling isn't something to fight. It's something to embrace. Being a 20-something is annoying. Everyone scoffs at you. Everyone thinks you're crazy and entitled and lazy. If you are, you deserve the mockery. But if you're like me, just striving to make your life worth living, then smile and ask those people if they had it all figured out at 22.